Camelot Upper School
by MarauderRose19136
Summary: Secondary/High school AU. Rated T to be safe! Merlin is the new kid starting at a new school. Some if his fellow pupils are nice, some are not. But is everyone really what they seem? Merlin is my favourite show and this is my first Merlin fanfic. Please read and review! I have edited this a lot :)
1. Chapter 1

A black haired boy made his way through the throng of students. He had a large red rucksack on his back, which matched his scarf. His mother followed him, carrying his blue suitcase. They finally reached the large wooden doors. Merlin pushed one open with difficulty. The large foyer of Camelot Upper School was packed with students calling to each other, first years in groups clutching maps and school prefects marching about looking important. One prefect approached them.

"Hi." She said. "I'm Gwen, I'm a fourth year. Do you need any help?" She was about the same size as Merlin, with soft, brown curly hair and a nice smile. Her blazer had been rolled up at the sleeves, her shoes had a slight heel, so she clacked when she walked and her skirt was pulled up so only a few inches could be seen. On her wrist jangled a number of bracelets, Merlin could see at least three festival bands of varying ages. She was wearing light makeup which made her pale auburn skin glow. She was quite pretty, Merlin thought.

"Er… Yes please." Merlin said, rather nervously. Gwen smiled at him encouragingly. Emboldened, he continued. "I'm starting new this year. Fourth year, same as you. I transferred from Ealdor Secondary School and College." He waved a sheaf of papers at her. "I'm Merlin by the way." He offered her his hand, forgetting that it was full of papers. Gwen laughed.

"It's nice to meet you Merlin. You'll need to register." She told him. "I'll show you where. Are you a magic or non-magic student?"

"Magic." Merlin replied. Gwen led him to a desk with a small line of students in front of it. Merlin stood at the back with Gwen and his mother. While his mother chatted to Gwen, Merlin listened in to a conversation that three students were having in the line in front of him.

"Have you heard?" One girl said excitedly. "We've got a new teacher this year!" Another girl laughed scornfully.

"Of course I've heard Sophia!" She said. "Don't you know who it is?"

"Good old Nimueh, up with the gossip as usual!" Said the third, a boy with short blond curly hair. He looked a bit older than Merlin, though Merlin could only see his profile. "So tell us!" He pushed.

Nimueh smiled, obviously enjoying the attention. Her lips were encased in a violent purple lipstick and her hair was caught up in a blue turban, but a few hairs had escaped and Merlin could see from these that she was a brunette. She looked quite old for a student, in her final years at school Merlin guessed. She wore fishnet tights, slightly ripped for effect and had a short skirt on. Her blouse was fitted with the top buttons undone, revealing her cleavage and she wore her tie loose so it hung at chest height. She wore black military boots, she chewed gum and she had a scarlet satchel flung over one shoulder.

"Come on Nimueh, tell us!" said the younger girl, Sophia, who didn't seem to mind being put down by Nimueh. She wore her light brown hair down with braids and had a gold band across her forehead. She had rolled up her skirt and undone her top buttons on her blouse in an attempt to copy Nimueh, but Merlin could see that this would never be the case because she was much younger, in her second year or roundabouts and her buttery flight bag was stuffed with papers and books.

"Morgause." Said Nimueh finally. The boy gasped, but Sophia looked puzzled. "Yeah." Said Nimueh ignoring Sophia and evidently pleased by the boy's reaction. She did her training last year and now she's back! Head of magic too!" She blew a bubble with her gum nonchalantly.

"Who's Morgause?" Sophia asked. Nimueh looked away bored, so the blonde boy answered her. "She wasn't here last year, as Nimueh said, so you wouldn't know her. She was the best magic student in the school, and she's Morgana's half-sister… He trailed off. Nimueh was staring curiously at something. It took Merlin a couple of seconds to realise it was him.

"Well, well, well." Said Nimueh. "What do we have here? A newbie? What's your name?"

"Merlin." Merlin replied. The other two pupils who had been talking to Nimueh turned to face him and Merlin saw the other side of the boy's face. It was horribly scarred; lines like cobwebs ran across it in rivulets. The bumpy, calloused, slightly discoloured skin continued down his neck too and vanished beneath his collar. "What on earth happened to your face?" Merlin cried and then immediately clamped a hand over his mouth. How could he have been so rude? Gwen and his mother instantly turned round, Sophia's mouth opened in a wide 'O' and the boy's face turned hard. Nimueh however seemed rather amused.

"Merlin." Gwen took his arm and led him a little way from the queue. "That's Edwin. He got those scars when he was a child, in the fire that killed his parents. So be nice about it, and for goodness sake don't mention it to his face!" Merlin nodded vigorously and Gwen took him back to the line. "He didn't mean it." She told Edwin. "He's sorry, aren't you, Merlin?" she dug an elbow into his ribs.

"Ow! I'm sorry." Said Merlin. Edwin didn't look as though he believed him for a second, but luckily he was called to the front of the line and no more was said. Merlin sighed. It didn't look good, making enemies on his first day.

When he got to the front of the queue he handed in his papers and the woman called over a prefect to show him around. "This is Lancelot." She said. "He's a non-magic student, but he's in your year, and you will be having some normal classes, so it's possible you may have a class or two together. Don't forget: all parents and visitors off the premises by six. Dinner is at half past and lights out by ten. You'll get your timetable tomorrow at breakfast. Lessons start at nine." And with that she shooed him on his way. "Off you go too, Gwen." She said. "Look after more lost students." Gwen gave him a smile and a wave and vanished into the crowd.

Lancelot clapped him on the back. "Welcome to Camelot." He said. He looked at Merlin's mother with his suitcase. "Shall I show you to your dorm first?"

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Lancelot was ever so polite. He insisted on taking Merlin's suitcase from his long-suffering mother and he carried it up all six flights of stairs to the top landing. "Which room did you say you were in?" He asked.

"537" Merlin panted. He leant against a wall, breathing heavily. Lancelot hadn't even broken a sweat and he was carrying Merlin's heavy suitcase! His mother looked at him amused while Lancelot stared at him disbelievingly.

"Are you sure?" He asked. He checked Merlin's key. There it was, written clear as day. 537.

"Why?" asked Merlin. "What's wrong with that room?"

"Nothing's wrong with it!" Lancelot said hurriedly. "It's just that no one else has ever had that room."

"No one _else_?" prompted Merlin, but Lancelot refused to say another word on the matter.

Lancelot put Merlin's suitcase down in his room and gently but firmly led him out. After a tearful (on her part) farewell with his mother, Merlin left for his tour of the school with Lancelot. He was shown the gym, the dining hall, the library- "That's Mr Monmouth." Lancelot said in a whisper. "We call him old Geoffrey. But not to his face." –the classrooms, the caretaker's apartments, the headmaster's office, the staff room, the first aid room, the music and drama studios and finally led him outside to see the sports facilities. "I love sport." Announced Lancelot, as though it was news to Merlin. "Do you like sport, Merlin?" he asked.

"Erm… No." said Merlin, eyeing the javelins with apprehension.

"Shame." Said Lancelot, doing keepy uppys with a spare football he found in the shed.

"_Where's_ the target?" Came a drawling voice from the other side of the shed.

"Uh oh." Said Lancelot in a low voice. He and Merlin crept quietly round to the other side to the shed to see what was going on. With their backs to them stood a crowd of boys. Their leader was a blond boy who was holding a bow and some arrows and was ordering a younger boy around.

"There?" suggested the small boy, holding up an archery target.

"Oh Morris." Said Lancelot sadly.

"It's into the sun." Said the blond boy.

"It's not that bright." Protested Morris.

"A bit like you then." Replied the blond boy. Laughter came from the other boys surrounding the blond one.

"Not his usual crowd." Commented Lancelot.

Morris sighed. "I'll move the target to the other end, shall I?" He said, picking up the target and walking across the field with it.

"Teach him a lesson!" One of the other boys cried.

"This'll teach him." Said the blond boy with satisfaction. He put an arrow in his bow and drew it back. Merlin gasped. Surely he wasn't going to… _THWACK! _The arrow hit the target, missing Morris.

"Hey!" Morris protested. "Hang on!"

"Don't stop!" The blond boy ordered. Morris moved the target a bit further away.

"Here?" He suggested.

"I told you to keep moving!" The blond boy repeated. He put another arrow in his bow. Morris gave a whimper and pulled the target up so it covered his face. _THWACK!_ The arrow landed in the centre of the target. Merlin frowned. The boy had a good aim, but Morris' life was in danger. He had to do something. He moved out from behind the shed.

"Merlin! No!" Lancelot hissed and made a grab for him, but missed so he ducked back behind the shed. The boys were so preoccupied with their game they didn't notice Merlin.

"Come on!" The bond boy laughed. "Run!" Morris ran. "We want some moving target practice!" By now a crowd had gathered on the other side of the field. Merlin saw Gwen among them, looking disapproving. The blond boy kept shooting arrows at the target, hitting it every time, to gales of laughter from the boys with him.

Then Morris dropped the target. It rolled towards Merlin, who stopped it with his foot. Morris looked up at him.

"Hey." Merlin said the blond boy. "Come on, that's enough."

"What?" The blond boy replied.

"You've had your fun, my friend." Said Merlin.

The blond boy walked over to him. "Do I know you?" He asked.

"Er… I'm Merlin." Merlin said, holding out a hand for the blond boy to shake. The boy ignored it.

"So I don't know you?" He said. Merlin withdrew his hand.

"No." he replied.

"Yet you called me friend." The blond boy pointed out.

"That was my mistake." Merlin said coolly.

"Yeah, I think so." The blond boy said.

"Yeah…" Merlin agreed, shrugging. "I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass." He walked off. The blond boy laughed.

"Or I one who could be so stupid." He countered. Merlin stopped.

"Tell me Merlin." Said the blond boy, walking up behind him. "Do you know how to walk on your knees?"

Merlin turned to face him. "Nope." He replied.

"Would you like me to help you?" The blond boy offered.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Merlin warned.

"Why?" The blond boy asked. "What're you gonna do to me?"

"You have no idea." Merlin said levelly.

"Be my guest!" The blond boy challenged, opening his arms wide in a mock welcoming gesture. "Come on!" Merlin didn't react. "Come on!" The blond boy called again, looking around at the crowd. Merlin still didn't react. "Come on!" He teased, leaning slightly towards Merlin.

Merlin snapped. He drew his arm back and went for a punch but the blond boy caught his wrist with strong arms and pinned it behind his back. "I could put you in detention for that." He told Merlin.

"Who do you think you are?" Merlin cried. "The headmaster?"

"No." replied the boy. "I'm his son, Arthur." And with that he kicked Merlin in the back of the knees so he went down and walked off laughing.

**A/N: Please review! It really makes me smile :) I started to write this story ages ago and then ran out of ideas. I do have a few more chapters in the pipeline and if people like this story, I'll post another one. I have no idea what pairings I want to do in this story, so vote for your favourite, and I might just make it happen ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, although I really wish I did!**

"Tough luck" said Lancelot sympathetically, pulling Merlin up and brushing him off. Merlin was seething.

"I could've used magic on him!" He said furiously.

"No you couldn't." said Lancelot. "You know magic is banned outside of class. Mr Pendragon is very firm on that. He hates magic."

"Really?" said Merlin. "Why does he have it on the curriculum then?"

Lancelot shrugged. "Because his friend Doctor Gaius convinced him to. Said he'd handle it."

The crowd was beginning to disperse now. "He's a prat." Merlin said.

"Mr Pendragon?" asked Lancelot.

"Arthur!" said Merlin. "I hope I won't be seeing much of him."

"Ah." said Lancelot. But just then the bell rang for dinner and Lancelot took Merlin inside for food. Merlin wasn't sure where to sit, but then he saw Gwen sitting beside a dark haired girl. They were both waving him over. Lancelot guided Merlin through the crowds to their table.

"Merlin, come join us!" invited Gwen. Merlin smiled and joined them. "You too, Lancelot!" said Gwen.

"No thanks ladies." said Lancelot. "I'm going to sit with the knights." He grinned at them and walked off. Gwen rolled her eyes.

"The knights?" asked Merlin. The food was being handed out to them by dinner ladies.

"That's what they call themselves." The other girl told Merlin, taking a tray off a passing trolley. "Him, my idiot brother and their group of friends."

"Your brother…" Merlin said, looking around at the group, his mind beginning to make connections.

"My idiot brother Arthur." The girl confirmed. "I'm Morgana." She smiled at him brightly. She had black wavy hair than ran down to her waist and long, polished nails. She was wearing expensive jewellery in the form of a matching flashy necklace and dangly earrings. Her feet under the table were encased in black high heeled boots and her make-up accented her facial features. She was very beautiful.

"I saw you stand up to Arthur earlier." Gwen said. "It was very brave of you."

"Mmm." mumbled Merlin, poking at his food. "It was stupid."

"Not at all." Said Morgana. "Anyone who stands up to my brother is a hero. He's a bully. I stand up to him all the time." She said casually, spearing a carrot with her fork.

"That's because you can!" Gwen said, rolling her eyes. "You're the daughter of the headmaster!"

"And I don't abuse it!" Morgana said, waving her fork about to make her point. A piece of broccoli flew off the end and hit Merlin in the eye.

"And so modest with it too." said Merlin, wiping broccoli out of his eye. Morgana gasped.

"I am so sorry!" she said, handing him a napkin. Gwen burst out laughing. Merlin started to laugh too and soon all three of them were giggling.

Merlin spent a happy hour with them in the dinner hall and then all the students were cleared out. Morgana and Gwen went to unpack and Merlin did the same. He put all of his things away, noticing that his roommate (who he hadn't actually met yet) had already unpacked. Once he'd finished, Merlin went to explore the library. He went straight to the magic section and pulled a book at random from the shelf. He opened it and saw lots of colourful illustrations and spells written in beautiful calligraphy. He ran a hand over one of the pages and jumped when a stern voice came from behind him. "You boy! What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

Merlin jumped violently and turned around. Standing behind him was an old man with straggly white hair down to his shoulders. He was wearing a long brown robe and a strict expression. "I'm Merlin." Merlin said, quite terrified that Arthur was going to make good on his promise and put him in detention, but the man's face cleared and he smiled at him.

"The new fourth year?"

"Yes." Merlin said, relieved.

"But you're not meant to be here until Wednesday." The man said.

"It is Wednesday." Merlin pointed out.

"Oh." said the man. "I'm Doctor Gaius." He held out a hand. Merlin shook it.

"Merlin." He said.

"Well Merlin, it's late, you ought to be getting to bed." Dr Gaius advised. "I'll see you in the morning." He ushered him out.

When Merlin got back to his room, his roommate was still not there. Merlin stopped to look out of the window at the sunset. It was beautiful and he had a wonderful view from his bedroom because he was up in one of the turrets of the castle in which the school was situated. Merlin put on his pyjamas, cleaned his teeth and sat in bed reading waiting for his roommate to come in. A teacher came round shouting lights out and still Merlin's roommate had not appeared. Merlin obediently put his book away and turned off his bedside lamp. Deciding not to wait to see who his roommate was any longer, he lay down under the duvet and was soon fast asleep.

He didn't notice when his roommate came in at half past ten and went to bed, and his roommate didn't notice him either.

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Merlin's roommate woke up before he did. He yawned, stretched, grabbed his towel and headed for the bathroom, not seeing Merlin sleeping peacefully on the other bed.

It was only when he returned that he finally caught sight of the other boy.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. Merlin woke with a start and stared at his roommate.

"You?" He cried.

The other boy waved his hand impatiently. "Of course I'm here. I have every right to be. This is my room." He said.

"Well, now it's mine too." Merlin said, sitting up.

"Don't be ridiculous." The other boy scoffed.

"Well." said Merlin, collecting his things to go to the bathroom. "That's just something you'll have to take up with you father." And smiling sweetly, he backed out of the room. Once he was safely on the other side of the door, he sighed. He couldn't believe he had to share a room with Arthur Pendragon.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review, it really makes me smile. Leave a review or PM me saying what pairing you want or I'll have to pick one soon :P**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You're all amazing and I love you all 3  
>Here's chapter 3!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, it belongs to the BBC**

When Merlin came out of the showers, he saw Lancelot preening himself in front of a mirror, so he went to join him.

"You could've warned me that I'm sharing a room with _Arthur_." Merlin complained, putting on his school tie.

Lancelot smiled ruefully, pulling a comb though his hair. "Sorry Merlin, I just didn't want you to get a bad impression before you met him."

"_Bad impression?_" spluttered Merlin. "He almost twisted my arm off!"

"I didn't know you were going to get into a fight with him, did I?" Lancelot defended.

"It was hardly a fight." Merlin muttered.

"He's a good guy." said Lancelot, tying his shoelaces. Merlin stared at him. "Er… deep down I mean. He's captain of the football team and he cares about his players."

"Well I suppose as long as he cares about his _players_, it's perfectly fine that he bullies first years." Merlin pointed out.

"He does have some character flaws." Lancelot laughed, straightening up. "But I'm sure you'll knock those out of him now you're his roommate!" He clapped him on the shoulder and walked off laughing. Merlin grabbed his blazer, slipped his feet into his shoes, ran a hand through his hair to detangle it and tore off after Lancelot.

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When Merlin got back to his room, Arthur wasn't there. Relieved, he picked up his schoolbag which he had had the foresight to pack the night before and headed down to breakfast. He saw Gwen sitting at a table alone and went to join her. He slid into the seat across from her.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." Gwen replied, smiling. "How did you sleep?"

"Not bad." Merlin said. "Apart from the fact that I'm sharing a room with Arthur bloody Pendragon of all people." Gwen gasped, put a hand over her mouth and stifled a giggle. Merlin stared at her cautiously.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Gwen said quickly. "It's just that… You managed to pick a fight with your roommate on the first day!" She burst into full laughing. "That must be some kind of record!"

Merlin, feeling rather cross with Gwen, huffed. "Where's Morgana?" He asked.

"Still making herself look pretty." Gwen replied, still wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "If she doesn't come soon she'll miss the trolley." Just then a bell clanged and the dinner ladies began trailing round with the trollies. Merlin was glad to see that it was English breakfast. He was starving. "There's cereal and fruit over there." Gwen said, pointing to a table on the far side of the hall before taking up her knife and fork and attacking a hash brown with ferocity.

The doors to the hall banged open and Morgana swept into the dining hall looking as dashingly beautiful as ever. Gwen rolled her eyes. "Why does she always have to make an entrance?" Morgana looked around at the food already on the tables dismayed before making her way over to the cereals table and grabbing a tray and beginning to load a bowl with Weetabix and strawberries. Merlin turned back to Gwen who was giggling again. "I can't believe she missed breakfast on the first day." She chortled. "She's going to be in a bad mood for this."

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later Morgana slammed her tray down next to Merlin, making him jump, and then letting herself down on a chair a little more lightly. As well as her bowl of Weetabix she'd taken a bunch of grapes.

"I can't BELIEVE I missed breakfast on the first day!" She moaned, breaking a piece of Weetabix off with her spoon and adding a strawberry to the top. Gwen smiled slyly at Merlin, who grinned back.

"It's okay Morgana." Gwen said soothingly, taking one of Morgana's grapes. "You can have any leftovers I don't want." Gwen smiled brightly, as though she's just made an appealing suggestion. Morgana growled.

"Don't you dare." She said threateningly. Gwen took advantage of this distraction to take another grape.

"Here, Merlin." She said. "Catch!" She threw the grape to Merlin who leaned back and caught it in his mouth. Gwen clapped and cheered and even Morgana managed a smile.

Merlin offered Morgana his bacon but she declined, saying that she was going to be healthy for once. "She's taking the moral high ground." Gwen whispered theatrically to Merlin. Morgana narrowed her eyes.

"So what if I am?"

"Timetables!" a voice cut over them, and they were asked their names before being handed their respective timetables. Morgana leant over Merlin's shoulder to examine his, completely forgetting about her breakfast predicament.

"Oh look, you've got chemistry first with me." She pointed out.

"I have double Maths first thing on a Monday!" Gwen groaned. "And I'm not with either of you. And we're being taught by Mr Agravaine, perfect." She grumbled.

"Hey. Morgana said lightly. "He's deputy head, you know. And my uncle." Gwen gasped.

"I'm sorry!" She said, but Morgana wasn't listening. She gave an even bigger gasp as she stared at Merlin's timetable with round eyes.

"You're a magic student!" She said in a hushed voice. Merlin squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

"Is that a problem?" He asked.

"Not to me." Morgana said mischievously. "But for heaven's sake don't mention it to Arthur. He'll beat the crap out of you."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Merlin cried with a growing sense of despair. "I'm in the same dorm as him!" Morgana stared at Merlin for a moment before bursting into loud laughs that had people sitting at nearby tables turning around to gaze at them curiously. Morgana's laughing had set Gwen off too and Merlin counted a full two minutes before they had calmed down. "Finished?" He asked, his arms folded across his chest.

"Yep." Morgana replied, straightening her tie. "Sorry Merlin but it is rather funny." She turned to Gwen. "What were you saying about my uncle Agravaine?"

"Erm…" Gwen said.

"Oh yes, I remember." Morgana said. "It's fine. He's always been an awful bore." She smiled at Gwen who groaned.

"Great." She replied. "Morgana, you do know that your Weetabix has completely disintegrated?" Morgana turned to the remains of her breakfast with a cry. It was now a brown, sludgy mess with a few strawberries poking out of the top. Morgana pushed it away with disgust and grabbed the bunch of grapes.

"I'm going to class." She announced, swinging her schoolbag over her shoulder. "Come on Merlin, I'll show you the way to the labs."

"But…" Merlin began. He hadn't finished his breakfast.

"I'll come with you." Gwen said. "I'm not hungry anymore in the face of double maths with Mr Agravaine." She stood up and picked up her schoolbag too. Morgana grabbed Merlin by the arm and he just had time to snatch an untouched piece of toast from Gwen's plate as Morgana more or less dragged him to the door.

Merlin desperately tried to remember the maze of corridors that they went along, but it was hopeless. He just munched on his toast and tried to keep up with Morgana's striding steps. When they finally got to their chemistry classroom Morgana and Gwen shared the remainder of Morgana's grapes while comparing their timetables to see which lessons they had together. They took Merlin's timetable too.

"We have music, drama and geography all together." Morgana told Merlin, handing him back his timetable. "And you have chemistry, physics and maths with me."

"And we have English, French and technology together." Gwen said to Merlin. "Which leaves…" She peeked over his shoulder at his timetable "…Sports, biology, history and art by yourself. Out of your normal lessons, anyway."

"Have you got a mobile?" Morgana asked Merlin.

"Yes." Merlin said, getting his second-hand Nokia out of his pocket. "But it's really- Hey!" Morgana had snatched the phone out of his hand and was typing something on it.

"I'm putting our numbers in." Morgana said. "You're welcome." Gwen gave Merlin an apologetic look and passed her own phone over to Morgana.

"Done!" Morgana declared.

"Done what?" Merlin asked.

"We've now all got each other's numbers." Morgana said. "You've got to have the numbers of your friends, haven't you?" Merlin smiled. "Who's Will?" Morgana asked.

"What?" Merlin asked, stunned.

"His name was in your contacts." Morgana said, as if it was obvious.

"Morgana you shouldn't pry!" Gwen reproved.

Luckily for Merlin the bell rang and Gwen gave Morgana a hug goodbye.

"See you in history!" Morgana said. Gwen smiled and then turned to Merlin. To his surprise she threw her arms around his neck. Merlin was too surprised to respond.

"Bye Merlin." She said in his ear. "See you in French." She smiled at him and left for her lesson. She passed a teacher on her way down the corridor and Morgana bent forward to whisper in Merlin's ear.

"That's Mr Aredian. He's our chemistry teacher." Mr Aredian was tall and imposing with sandy coloured hair and green eyes. He wore long, black robes and a strict expression. He swept past Merlin and Morgana with a sneer and took a key out of his pocket to open the door to the laboratory. The rest of the class had already arrived and had filed themselves against the wall along the corridor. At Mr Aredian's arrival the chatter died away and the students stood in an obedient, silent line. Morgana threw her arm out and shoved Merlin against the wall behind her. Mr Aredian opened the door but Morgana knew better than to walk in. He cast shrewd eyes over the line of apprehensive students in front of him. He cleared his throat.

"So this is my new class of fourth years? I expect you to be punctual and to turn up for every lesson and if you don't adhere to these rules without good reason you will be punished." Merlin felt a shiver go down his spine. This man was scary. "I have arranged a seating plan to which you will sit accordingly. It is boy girl and in alphabetical order." He looked at his seating plan. "At the first bench will sit Alvarr on the right and Annis on the left." The two students mentioned left their respective groups of friends and nervously made their way past the class, past the teacher and into the classroom. Mr Aredian looked at his list again. "Borden and Beatrice." By the time Merlin and Morgana got into the classroom, after their relief at being put together they saw to their delight that they were put at the back.

Mr Aredian shut the door behind Vivian and walked purposefully to his desk. He dropped his pile of papers on to the wooden surface and surveyed the class. He smiled. "Let's get started."

**Please let me know what you think! I do my best to incorporate your ideas into my work, so feel free to give me suggestions! Like/love/hate/bored? I'd love to know! Much love to everyone who reviews :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin**

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After a very boring chemistry lesson Morgana took Merlin to his first magical class: Magical writings and potions with Dr Gaius, before hurrying off to history. Merlin peeked inside the classroom. The only person there was the teacher. Dr Gaius looked up and spotted Merlin. He smiled at him fondly.

"Come in boy!" He said, ushering Merlin to a desk in the middle of the room. "We try to sit people by year. Freya usually sits here. She's the other member of your year group." It struck Merlin as a little bizarre that there were only two people in a year group, but he supposed magic was a rare gift.

The rest of the school's magical population began to file in. Merlin saw Sophia and Edwin both give him scathing looks as they took their seats. Then a small girl came in who jumped and gave a small squeak when she saw Merlin. Merlin presumed this was Freya so he smiled and beckoned her over. She came, shuffling slowly and stopped several feet away from Merlin.

"I'm Merlin. I'm the new fourth year." Merlin explained. "Are you Freya?" He asked. The girl nodded timidly. She had dark hair which was kept off her face by a plait down her left side over her ear, but the rest of her hair was down and hung limply around her shoulders and upper arms. Her uniform was too big for her and was bought in anticipation of growth, Merlin guessed. She had small, watery blue eyes and very pale skin. Merlin stuck a hand out. Freya took it gingerly and was rewarded with her arm almost being shaken off as Merlin pumped it up and down enthusiastically. He patted the seat next to him which Freya took accordingly.

Merlin kept trying to start conversations with the girl but she didn't respond. Merlin realised he would have to be more tactful if he was going to get anywhere with this person, so he decided to try a more personal question. "So when did you discover that you have magic?" he asked quietly. He thought she was going to ignore him again, but she replied in a soft, musical voice:

"I've always known."

"It was the same with me." Merlin smiled. "It was a bit of a surprise though, because as far as we know, there's never been any magic in the family."

"Oh my whole community's magic." Said Freya bitterly. "I was nothing special."

"I don't believe that." Merlin said without realising. Freya blushed. Merlin looked away. His eyes landed on a pencil sitting on the edge of the desk in front of him. He held his hand out towards it and felt the familiar surge of power course through his body, turning his eyes golden. Merlin directed his power through his fingertips and concentrated on the pencil. Slowly it rose off the desk and floated, unsupported in the air. Merlin, conscious of Freya watching him, tilted his hand and the pencil began turning somersaults in the air, getting faster and faster and…

"Merlin!" Merlin jumped and the pencil clattered to the floor. He looked around. The whole class was staring at him. Dr Gaius was gazing at him sternly. It was he who had spoken. "Magic is not permitted except under controlled conditions in class, Merlin." Dr Gaius said.

"Sorry Sir." Merlin mumbled. "I didn't know." Dr Gaius frowned, but didn't take the matter further.

"Well, before we begin I'll just give you some introductory information." Dr Gaius told the class. "You all have a basic grounding in magic and so you will now be taught how to develop your skills. We'll have lots of other teachers and lecturers in over the year to teach you different aspects of magic. Our new head of magic and ex-student Miss Morgause will be helping you through the year and overseeing your magical education. She'll be arranging one-on-one meetings with you and talking with your teachers. She'll be coming into class a bit later on. Now." He said, clapping his hands. "Let's go round the room and each person will say their name and their year. Let's start with the youngest, shall we?" He smiled at a small, scrawny boy with dark hair sitting at the front desk who shrank back in his chair at being addressed. Dr Gaius nodded at him encouragingly and the boy said in a small voice:

"Erm… My name's Gilli, and I'm a first year." Dr Gaius smiled.

"Good, Good! Next!" He gestured at another girl, who was sitting at the desk behind Gilli.

"Lamia, first year." The girl said, sounding bored. She had brown curly hair and was picking at her dirty nails.

"Tauren, year seven." Grunted a voice from the back. Merlin turned around to see a thickset boy with dark hair and dark eyes and his feet on the desk.

"Nimueh, sixth year."

"Edwin, fifth year."

"Sophia, second year."

"I'm Merlin." Merlin said, waving cheerily at the class. Nimueh, sitting next to Edwin two desks behind Merlin, scoffed, but Merlin continued undaunted. "I'm the new fourth year. Hello!"

Tauren raised one dark eyebrow. Lamia stared at Merlin like he'd just announced he was made of custard.

Freya spoke up in a vain attempt to save Merlin from further embarrassment: "Freya, year four."

"Mordred and Kara, third years." A boy at the front said. He had dark brown curly hair and startling green eyes. Next to him sat a girl with brown wavy hair that extended past her shoulders. They were holding hands.

"Good!" Dr Gaius said. "I will be teaching you magical writings and potions. We'll start off today with learning how to read ancient spells. Now, some calligraphers had writing which was notoriously difficult to decipher, for example?" He asked. Sophia's hand shot into the air.

"The witches of Meridor?" She asked. Dr Gaius nodded, pleased.

"Yes, good! So it's important that you learn how to read them. I'd like you to write out these spells in English, please." Dr Gaius began handing out worksheets. "If you need help, just ask me."

Merlin and Freya got given a fourth year worksheet each. Merlin stared at the bemusing array of strange symbols. Freya chewed the end of her pencil, her brow furrowed in concentration. Merlin looked around to see if Dr Gaius was available to talk to, but he was busy with Gilli and Lamia. Merlin looked around the rest of the classroom to see what the other students were doing. Mordred and Kara were discussing their worksheet in quiet tones, their heads close together. Sophia was rummaging for something in her bag. Tauren had folded his worksheet into a paper aeroplane and was making it fly through the air. His eyes were golden and he was muttering something under his breath. The plane zipped past Dr Gaius' head without him noticing. Merlin heard Edwin chuckle.

"Tauren!" Dr Gaius called out, without turning round. "If you do not desist immediately, you will be put in detention!" The paper aeroplane dropped out of the air and landed next to Gilli who poked it to check that it was real.

Merlin sighed and went to turn back to his own worksheet when Nimueh caught his eye. She had her eyes closed and her hands on the worksheet, like she was trying to feel the words. "E." She said to Edwin, who wrote the corresponding letter down obediently. "I." She continued. "C."

Merlin decided to try that. He took a deep breath, turned back to his piece of paper and tried to think of the words as spells. He closed his eyes, held his hands out and felt his magic rise up inside him. Dr Gaius had said that magic was permitted under controlled conditions in class, hadn't he? Merlin opened his eyes and unexpectedly, the words made sense to him. They still looked like weird symbols, but he could understand them. He began to chant them aloud. "_Eryr o forbearnan yn ymddangos i ni,_"

Freya gasped. "How are you doing that?" She asked. Merlin ignored her and kept going.

"_hedfan gan eich bod yn gorchmynnodd ac yn goleuo yr awyr_" He continued, his voice instinctively rising in volume, not noticing that the other students has stopped what they were doing and were staring at him. What had he been worried about? This was easy, this was natural, this felt right.

"Merlin!" Dr Gaius called, but Merlin didn't hear him.

"_gyda gwres a chynhesrwydd wrth i chi!_" He called, his voice rising to a shout.

"Merlin stop!" Dr Gaius pleaded.

"_LEDAENU EICH ADENYDD AC YN ESGYN!"_ Merlin roared as he finished the spell.

Suddenly, a huge eagle made of flame burst out of the air in front of him. Freya screamed and ducked behind the desk. Merlin stumbled backwards, shocked and afraid of what he had created. The eagle responded to his fear and flew backwards a couple of feet so it hovered over Mordred and Kara at the desk in front. Kara shrieked and began throwing books from the shelf beside her at the fiery bird. The books soared straight through the eagle as though it had no substance and fell as charred lumps on the other side of the desk. Kara stared at the smouldering remains of her weapons and whimpered.

Mordred put one arm around her and the other he directed at the eagle. "_Dŵr oer!_" he shouted, and a jet of icy water shot from his hand at the eagle, but it evaporated instantly on impact.

"Merlin, stop this!" Dr Gaius implored.

"What am I supposed to do?" Merlin called anxiously, ducking down behind the desk.

"You created it, it responds to you!" Dr Gaius cried.

"Disappear!" Merlin squeaked at the eagle from his hiding place with Freya behind his desk. "Go away!"

The bird ignored him. "You're not supposed to _ask_ it, you nitwit!" Nimueh shouted.

"Do the same thing you did on the pencil, Merlin!" Dr Gaius advised. Merlin stared at the bird apprehensively. How was he supposed to control it? It was impossible! The eagle was too powerful!

"Help us!" Mordred shouted. He was still shooting water at the bird, but it was having no effect, and he was getting tired. Dr Gaius ran to the bookshelf behind the teachers' desk and began pulling books off the shelf and flicking though them. Edwin put both hands out in front of him and yelled

"_Rhewi gwynt!_"

Merlin felt a burst of freezing wind rush past his ears. It was so cold it turned the water in Freya's bottle to ice, but it had absolutely no effect on the eagle.

"_Corwynt!_" Tauren bellowed from somewhere behind Merlin and immediately the eagle was encased in a miniature hurricane. It looked for a moment as though Tauren had beaten it, but then the tips of the eagle's wings appeared out of the edges of the tornado and it swept the storm aside as though it were little more than a veil. Tauren gulped and the cyclone dissipated.

The eagle opened its mouth and cawed angrily, letting out a burst of sparks on to Mordred, Kara, Merlin and Freya, who screeched with terror and tried desperately to bat the sparks away before they damaged her skin. Merlin pulled his blazer up over his head, but he knew that the eagle had done some damage. He could feel the skin on his exposed hands blistering.

Amongst the cries of terrified students, Merlin heard the classroom door opening. He chanced a look over the top of the desk and saw a beautiful woman framed in the doorway. She was young and slim and wearing a fitted red dress with long silver sleeves. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back in lazy curls and was decorated with gems that matched the colour of her dress and she was wearing thick black eyeliner.

The newcomer surveyed the carnage: The firey eagle still spitting sparks and the frightened students huddled behind their desks while the teacher frantically rifled through his books to try and find something to reverse the spell. She raised a hand and spoke: "_creadur o dân, yn clywed y geiriau hyn ac yn mynd._" The eagle let loose one more burst of sparks and vanished. There was an audible sigh of relief.

"Thank you Miss Morgause." Dr Gaius said.

"You're welcome Gaius." The woman replied. The students rose from behind their desks, some still trembling. Freya had to be coaxed by Merlin to reappear and sit back on her stool. The third and fourth years were burnt in several places from the eagle's attack. "You should go and see the nurse." Miss Morgause told the injured students. "I'll take you while Dr Gaius finishes his lesson. And perhaps you can tell me exactly what happened." She looked straight at Merlin and he had a horrible feeling that she knew exactly who was responsible.

Merlin looked at Dr Gaius, who nodded encouragingly. "You'll like Alice." He said. "She's very kind." The other students were still staring stunned at Merlin as he was shepherded out of the door by Miss Morgause and down the corridor to see the nurse.

Alice was very nice and insisted on being called by her first name. She gave them each a salve which worked so fast Merlin was sure it couldn't have been normal medicine.

"Merlin? May I have a word?" Merlin turned. Miss Morgause was standing in the doorway beckoning him. Alice pressed another tube of skin ointment into his hands.

"Apply it again when it starts itching." She said kindly.

"Thanks." Mumbled Merlin. He really wasn't looking forward to the itching part later. He followed Miss Morgause out into the corridor and she shut the door to the first aid room behind them.

"So Merlin, my new magic student, would you like to tell me what went on in the class this morning that led to three of your fellow students and yourself receiving rather nasty burns?" Merlin swallowed guiltily and told her what happened from when Gaius handed out the worksheets.

"It was an accident, I swear. I've never done that before, I don't even know how I did it! But how did you know it was me?" Merlin asked. Miss Morgause studied him carefully before she replied.

"You know Merlin, most people have to say an incantation to perform much more than simple spells. Dr Gaius always has to use spoken spells, but I think that today in class was the first time you've ever spoken to produce magic, wasn't it?"

She took his stunned silence as a 'yes'.

"You have to be careful with these things, Merlin." She told him. "Don't let your magic run away with you again." Merlin looked up at her.

"You're not going to punish me?" He asked. Miss Morgause smiled.

"Not this time." She said. "It's almost break time. Run along." Merlin resented being told to 'run along', like he was still a child but he did as she asked, even though he didn't know where he was going.

The bell rang, and so did his phone. It was Morgana. Merlin answered it. "Hello?"

"Merlin? It's Morgana. Where are you?"

"Erm… I've just left the First Aid room, why?"

"The First Aid room? What have you done now?"

"Nothing! Well…" Merlin trailed off. He could hear Morgana sighing on the other end of the phone.

"Stay in that corridor. Gwen and I will come find you." There was a click as she hung up. Merlin leant against the wall and waited.

Morgana and Gwen came round the corner and gasped at his appearance.

"Oh my God!" Gwen exclaimed. "Did you set fire to the classroom like Morgana did in second year? Ow!" Morgana had elbowed her in the ribs.

"Let's go to the library." Morgana suggested. "You can tell us there."

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**A/N: Thanks for reading!****I couldn't find how to translate words into Old English, so I've used a mixture of spells from the show and Welsh. I'd love to know what you think of the story, please review, it doesn't take long! :)**


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